Q U E E N S L A N D B A L L E T
Carmen
Choreographed by François Klaus
QPAC Lyric Theatre
SOUTH BANK
30 May 2011
When Rachael Walsh stops dancing Carmen they should retire the red dress.
She made the role her own in the original 2009 production and, once again, stole the night in the new production. She was sexy and sizzled in the role.
Walsh was the liberated woman who spread her favors around to anyone she fancied. She was no lady, but the perennial seductress who lived her life according to her own rules and woe betide any man who tried to change her.
This return season had the audience roaring approval at the final curtain following the powerful pas de deux with Carmen and Don José danced by Nathan Scicluna in another reprise role. His Don José in 2009 was his first lead role.
This Carmen is a narrative ballet and it tells the tale of the free-spirited woman and the men she seduced. It has just about everything from Spanish Flamenco, Andalucían and classical dance and François Klaus created some very raunchy routines.
Sexy is the word from beginning to end - and musky earthiness of the female factory workers who undressed to bathe, taunting the soldiers who lusted after them - was an unforgettable scene, but even more sultry was when the girls rolled cigars on their inner thighs.
It was a big talking point among the men at the after party. If the company marketed those cigars they’d make a fortune!
This scene also produced the fight between Carmen and her factory adversary Mercedes, who was danced very steamily by Iona Marques. I thoroughly enjoyed her work as an actor as well as dancer.
The first half was danced mainly by the company with a lot precision-based chorus work with Spanish flavored routines which crackled with foot stomping and heel clicking. The music was a mix of solo guitar, orchestral moments from Bizet’s opera and arias from recordings of various operatic stars.
We saw the entry of Nathan Scicluna’s Don José as the soldier who initially spurned Carmen’s attention. He was cool and aloof. There was a subversive element to the action, as Carmen slowly seduced the good soldier and persuaded him to let her smuggler friends go unharmed. He even accepted the humiliation of being stripped of his rank and taunted by Carmen and her friends.
But he then developed a passion for putting the knife in, literally, to anyone who crossed him. No lovesick fool was this soldier, but he was ruthless in his pursuit of Carmen and boundless in his jealousy. He killed the sergeant who caught him in bed with his lover.
The fire, though, seemed to be missing from Act One. But that all changed in the second act when the tension, fire and passion built to a blazing finale.
All is well and the gypsy camp where Don José had taken up a leadership role, until Carmen’s husband Garcia returned after a stint in jail. Keian Langdon reprised the role and was even stronger than before. He has developed into a powerful dancer with a strong stage presence.
Clare Morehen also reprised the role of Don José’s childhood sweetheart Michaela and her lovely characterisation of the one gentle soul in the ballet was beautiful.
One of the highlights of the night was the pas de deux with Nathan Scicluna when she tries to convince him to leave the sordid life he was living and to come back home with her. It was a heartbreaking dance that became even more powerful when Rachael Walsh joined them in the pas de trois.
There were, of course, lighter moments with some spirited fun from the gypsy girls, with the effervescent Teri Crilly dancing and teasing the men with the equally flirtatious Kathleen Doody, Gemma Pearce and Tamara Zurvas.
Christian Tatchev, with his hair slicked down with oil and outrageous sideburns was an arrogant Escamillo the matador, whose attraction to Carmen proved fatal for the girl.
It was a show for the whole company however; every dancer created a character that added to the atmosphere of the drama, but it was the final pas de deux that brought the cheers from the audience. Rachael Walsh and Nathan Scicluna’s partnership was superb in its drama and passion as the finale was played out to Bizet’s Toreador aria to bring the powerful second act to its conclusion. There were bravos and cheers from the sold-out audience as the two dancers took their bows. The reception was well deserved.
Eric Scott
